[thoughtFrame]

Well, it's well known that ADD/ADHD aren't about lack of focus, but about an inability to direct one's focus to where it's needed.

Normal people can think "I need X, let's work on X" but ADHD people are at the mercy of what's "chosen for them" by their brain.

This was probably fine 4000 years ago, when the world was looser, and people could find their place in life regardless of their particular quirks, but not so much nowadays.

This difficulty or inability to direct focus can be "trained away" with enough effort, but it isn't easy at all.

[__MatrixMan__]

I think it's the opposite. 4000 years ago we would fail to prepare and not survive the winter.

Nowadays we get by by occasionally solving a problem that nobody asked to have solved but golly the solution is kinda neat.

[coldtea]

Recent research suggests the opposite: ADHD made for better hunters which was a valuable asset to the rest of the group.

And even later on, community life, with fewer distractions, less sedentary boredom (like in a modern office job) and fewer demands for precise timing and continuous focus, also made it easier. Even school either didn't exist or was a much loser affair than the institution we know for the past 2 centuries.

I'd prepare for winter 10x more easily than focus on some boring ass corporate task in a world filled with bullshit distractions and endless structured and strict time demands. And I'd have an extended family plus community to help with things.

Consider how people think it's rude if you're somewhat late on a rendezvous or meeting etc. Then consider how clocks and precise timekeeping weren't a thing for most of history, nor was reliable transit, cars, roads, and stuff. You got there, when you got there - even today in more rural countries.

[tstrimple]

I think that's offset by our ability to operate effectively "under fire". My lack of ability to direct attention is mostly a factor of modern convenience and work structure I think. Being assigned a presentation to deliver on architecture changes in two weeks doesn't really have the same stakes as being a hunter gatherer. I know most of what I have to do to earn money is bullshit at some level and that certainly adds to my inability to focus on it. But when things are crashing, the server is on fire and everyone is panicking, I'm at my most comfortable. There is a real and direct need and I can handle those situations better than most people based on my 20+ years doing this sort of work. It's when everything is humming along smoothly that I'm least productive.

[AgentMatt]

I also believe it to have been easier with ADHD in the distant past. My reasoning is that in a small, but tighter group there will be others who can compensate for the ADHD person's executive function deficiencies. But the ADHD person might bring enough of a benefit by occasionally going down rabbit holes or discovering stuff that's off the beaten track that the group will still tolerate them.

[R_D_Olivaw]

This a where I lean also.

I forget where (and I really ought find it again) but I recall some linking of ADHD as simply the kind of traits that are necessary for survival -esque scenarios.

I know that I don't feel as awkward and weird when I'm in nature or building huts or what have you. Seeing the abundance of what nature has to offer and the possibilities actually feels far better than being in a concrete building and being forced to walk ONLY in designated walking areas.

My ADHD always feels the worse when I realize that I have to abide by _insert_arbitrary_deadline_here.

[thewebguyd]

> My ADHD always feels the worse when I realize that I have to abide by _insert_arbitrary_deadline_here.

Similar here. For me, if I'm given some arbitrary deadline in the future, it almost guarantees I'm not going to do the thing until the day before, or depending on the task, hours before it's due.

"Hey webguy, we need this report by the end of next week" means I'm not doing it until Friday afternoon, and I have no control over it. Doesn't matter if I try to work on it earlier, just won't happen.

It's having an interest based nervous system. We crave novelty, urgency, interest, and challenge to do anything.

[R_D_Olivaw]

While I don't dispute the biological aspects of life with ADHD, I also cannot escape the reality of bullshit timelines.

My essence knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that time is cyclical. And just because some person or org says, randomly today, that something NEEDS TO BE COMPLETED by next Thursday or the world ends, doesn't actually change the nature of time.

There have been countless things in life where, as a civilization, we simply allow for trivial shit like this to have actual, life altering consequences. I think we're dumb.

[drbojingle]

If we died off we wouldn't be here.

[__MatrixMan__]

Gene expression is more complicated than that.

[thunfischbrot]

> This was probably fine 4000 years ago, when the world was looser, and people could find their place in life regardless of their particular quirks, but not so much nowadays.

Is this likely? My overgeneralizing gut feel would be that more people who would have traits which might be perceived as unusual and impede survivability 4000 years ago would be more likely to receive a chance to live a regular lifespan in most today‘s societies.

[teamonkey]

Increased thrill seeking activity includes sex. The evolutional advantage could simply be more chance of passing on genes; from that point on it doesn’t matter if you fail at life, get outcast from society and/or die young.

[coldtea]

Today we're much much more about conformity, rigid structrures, time management, and so on, than 4000 years ago, or even 50 and 100 years ago.

And today we're much less about having extended families and communities that take care of their members and lend a hand.

At best we have some half-arsed provisions by an indifferent state, and we're left on our own. A slip and you're broke, or homeless, or depressed on your own.

[jkmcf]

Your first sentence is gold.

It's only in the past few hundred years where focus actually matters: knowledge workers, and some factory work where lack of attention resulted in injury.

[coldtea]

To be fair, that's what people mean when they say "lack of focus" too.

They don't mean "this person can't focus on anything", but "they can't focus on their school projects, their work" etc. They don't care if "but hey, I can hyperfocus for months on the history of late Roman battles or throat singing techniques".